ConEdMeter

Electric utilities make transmission and distribution investments. A shift to night-time use of this infrastructure by rate payers increases the utility’s return, as the transmission and distribution system is designed and sized for the daytime peak load. Load shifting is the common name applied to this concept.

Con Edison has started an excellent voluntary program called time of use metering. The utility reduces the kW-hour charge for night-time electric energy while raising the daytime kW-hour charge. The meter has to be switched out, the utility does this free. This is a good way to get return on investment for the customer as it is a savings realized with no capital investment on their part. A certain amount of rate analysis is required on the part of the customer to project the usage pattern for any one meter.

Generally the program would yield savings for stand-alone meters such as you find at a golf-cart facility or a municipal electric vehicle garage. Another application would be a thermal storage (ice plant) run from a chiller system operating at night, an application which would also realize a significant demand charge reduction.

Con Edison’s on-peak period is 8 AM to 10 PM Monday to Friday. The off-peak is all other hours.

SC9 time of use customer rate has a one-year term. SC2 time of use customers can go off the rate at any time.

Interval meters such as those for the ICAP and other demand response programs are not able to be used as time of use meters.

Con Edison’s time of use meter program is an economical step towards the “smart grid” much discussed today.

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This entry was posted on March 2, 2009 at 11:21 pm and is filed under Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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